Luminosity Gaming reacquired by Steve Maida, may possibly have a Smash roster

Luminosity has been reacquired by the original owner and founder, Steve Maida.

On X (formerly Twitter), Luminosity officially announced the return of Maida. As part of the sale, Luminosity’s current players and creators were paid in full using money from the sale. However, historical debts and previously unpaid creators are still the sole responsibility of former owner Vertiqal Studios.

“I’M BAAAAAACK! I’ve reacquired Luminosity Gaming! WOW! Where to begin! What a full circle moment,” Maida declared on LinkedIn. “When I started Luminosity in my dad’s basement as a kid, I never ever could have imagined the scale it would get to, or that I would be selling it to an NHL team.”

Back in the day, Maida was just an ‘addicted gamer’ who wanted to create a ‘cool team’ with a ‘cool logo.’ His dream had been to have a Counter-Strike team compete in a tournament, so he quit his corporate job and took the chance.

“I still remember in the first few months we were live, I was at the food court in my local mall and a young boy and his father walked past me – the kid had on the Luminosity blue zip hoodie. My jaw dropped. That’s when I knew I was onto something,” Maida recalled.

“It’s been an absolutely wild ride, and I couldn’t be happier to be back in control of my baby. It means the world to me. If you’ve supported me over the years, to the real ones – THANK YOU. Excited for the future!”

Lumonisoty was acquired by gaming and lifestyle company Vertiqal Studios from Enthusiast Gaming in August 2025. The goal was to grow the content creator side of the brand, expanding its presence on YouTube, Twitch and social media.

The purchase came with an agreement that Vertiqal would take on the existing $2.6 million in existing and ongoing liabilities, and Luminosity had come with a lot of debt at the time of the sale.

After a few months, content creators and players came forward to say that Luminosity had not paid them after the acquisition. This included top Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player Leonardo ‘MkLeo‘ Perez. Fellow Smash pro Carlos ‘Sonix‘ Perez also told his fans he was uncertain about his sponsorship on stream.

The Esports Advocate reached out to Vertiqual Studios at the time, and a representative responded that it had ‘taken on a distressed company’ with ‘management issues.’ The rep added: “While we knew there were some missed payments, we did not realize the extent of missed payments until we started talking to the creators, vendors and employees recently.”

The representative reassured The Esports Advocate that everyone would be paid.

Meanwhile, Enthusiast Gaming’s Chief Marketing Officer Alex Gonzalez denied that Luminosity had management issues ahead of the acquisition. He explained that the organisation had a strong roster and brand that wasn’t mismanaged.

“Given the strong foundation my team and I were able to build throughout the last few years, I feel that Luminosity is well-positioned to continue to thrive,” Gonzalez said at the time.

For now, past content creators no longer on Luminosity are still owed money by Vertiqal Studios. Luminosity’s website shows MkLeo, Sonix, Enrique ‘Maister’ Solis and Tyler ‘Marss’ Martins on its Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. Its League of Legends page states that its team is TBD.